Kinship
by tanakari
Summary: Ludwig's mother died when he was 10. He is deeply distraught, but must remain brave for his siblings. Bowser teaches him that he isn't alone and that it's okay for him to express his grief and he discovers his love for composing music in a way he never expected.


' _Death. The action or fact of dying or being killed; the end of the life of a person or organism.'_ Ludwig shut the dictionary and sighed. How? How could this happen?! It seemed like just yesterday Mama was there, patting everyone's heads and fawning over them; however at last minute the deep cloud of death claimed her.

Oh, how he had wept- to know that he could no longer hear her loving voice, be enveloped in her embrace, or feel her soft goodnight kisses. Black hearted, cold grief hung over his head and rendered him unable to do anything. To know that his beloved mother had been burnt in a million pieces at the crematorium deeply troubled him. Despite all of this, Ludwig had to be strong. He was only ten years old, but he was the oldest koopaling in the family. He had to model good behavior for the others. He could not let them see his hurt. The others were too young to understand that Mama had died- except for Lemmy. Lemmy was the second oldest-8 years old- albeit rather naïve.

Ludwig's morbid thoughts were quickly interrupted by his father. "Son? What are you doing here?" Bowser loomed over Ludwig, curious to see how his son was doing.

Ludwig scoffed. He was in the castle's library; what, a mad scientist can't read every once in a while? He felt his dad needed to leave.

"Reading." Ludwig said quickly as he got up and ran out of the library.

"Kooky! Kooky!" his father called out Ludwig's nickname in hopes that he'd stop running away and come to him. Ludwig would probably get sent to the dungeon for acting in such a manner, but he didn't care. His mother's funeral was tomorrow and Ludwig was not sure how to cope with it. One could only hold their self together for so long until they shattered. Ludwig ran and ran, until he reached the garden. It was abandoned as usual, which was perfect. He needed his alone time. He lay down and stared up at the sky. Everything felt so different to him but somehow everything looked the exact same. The same blue sky, the same white clouds… Ludwig closed his eyes and felt sleep calling his name- and sleep he did.

Ludwig woke up in the castle on a couch with Lemmy sitting on the floor near him. Lemmy was playing with alphabet blocks and spelling out words. Ludwig averted his gaze from annoyance- 8 years old and still playing with blocks!?

"Lemmy."

Lemmy turned his head and looked at Ludwig.

"What?"

"How did I get here?" Ludwig asked. Last he remembered, he was asleep in the garden!

"Bowser brought you inside. He searched foreeever for you and found you sleeping in the garden! How crazy is that?! He's worried about you!" Lemmy said very animated and charismatically. He seemed so carefree. Ludwig envied his simplicity. Ludwig got up and chose to head to Bowser's throne- he needed to talk to someone. Before Ludwig even knocked on the metal doors Bowser's voice boomed 'Come in'. Ludwig strode over to Bowser and Bowser stared at him with heavy eyes.

"Ludwig, I know how much you've been hurting. I am too. I understand why you ran, its okay." Bowser said gently, as if he had read Ludwig's mind. As soon as Bowser said that, Ludwig began to cry. Tears fell instantly from his eyes and Bowser embraced Ludwig tightly.

"It's okay…its okay, champ." Bowser told Ludwig in an attempt to comfort him. But he too was crying.

The next morning, Ludwig put on his finest suit and stared at himself in the mirror. He was ready. He could do this. He was _strong_. He walked out of his room and met with his family. Everyone looked so fancy on this somber day- even little four year old Wendy and teeny tiny baby Larry. Larry gurgled and smiled at Ludwig, Ludwig found himself instinctively smiling back at his baby brother. Larry would grow up never remembering his mother. Ludwig's smile faded at this realization.

Bowser led all his children to the koopa clown car and they all flew away to the funeral home - to a place where Ludwig would face his fear.

The funeral home was very beautiful and Ludwig admired the ornate structure of it. Just before all 7 of the family members were about to enter, Bowser grabbed Ludwig and hugged him.

"You're not alone, I'm here for you. We all are. We're your family and we all love you." Bowser told Ludwig, knowing that he was struggling.

This is what Ludwig needed. This was it.

With courage, he walked in to the funeral home. The faint sound of organ music was playing. Ludwig thought it was unlike anything he had heard, it was absolutely beautiful.

' _I'm going to start playing music; I want to produce something as beautiful as this'_ Ludwig thought to himself.


End file.
